The Times

LIVELY TILT IN THE HOUSE

Mr. Walker Scores Mr. Dingley and Mr. Dalzell.

War claims amounting to $1,200,000 were, under the rules, the subject of debate in the House yesterday, and when, at 5 o'clock, the House took a recess, the bill was not half finished, and its further consideration was deferred until next Friday. The debate would have been slow and devoid of interest if it had not been for the antagonism created by the opposition of Mr. Dingley of Maine and Mr. Dalzell of Pennsylvania, the latter at the outset making a point of order that it was not competent for the Committee on War Claims to report a measure which contained 540 claims as one bill, inasmuch as each claim was a separate bill.

Mr. Payne of New York, in the chair, overruled the point of order, and the clerk read the bill, which showed that the claims were distributed as follows: Alabama, 60; Arkansas, 56; Georgia, 42; Illinois, 1; Kansas, 3; Kentucky, 56; Louisiana, 22; Maryland, 70; Mississippi, 109; Missouri, 61; New York, 1; North Carolina, 13; Ohio, 2; Oregon, 1; Pennsylvania, 4; South Carolina, 2; Tennessee, 180; Virginia, 66; West Virginia, 46.

After debate of a general character had been in progress for some time, Mr. Dingley made a speech against the bill, declaring among other things that it ought not to pass now because the condition of the Treasury was such that it could not stand legislation of such a character. Mr. Dalzell backed up all that Mr. Dingley had said, and asserted that the bill should not pass, because it was simply the judgment of the Court of Claims and evidence should be had by the House to support the claims, and also that the House had no right to pass 540 separate bills as one bill. In addition to these specific objections he protested on general principles.

Mr. Walker of Massachusetts, Chairman of the Committee on Banking and Currency, took exception to the remarks he had heard Messrs. Dingley and Dalzell utter, and, kicking over his Republican traces, he sailed into these gentlemen like a hurricane. He declared the Government should pay its honest debts. He had become tired of seeing his Republican friends each Friday, through parliamentary tactics, delay the payment of honest claims against the Government. He asserted that Mr. Dalzell's protest went to the point that the Government should not be honest and decent in dealing with its citizens, and, facing both Mr. Dalzell and Mr. Dingley, the indignant member from Massachusetts declared that if there was not sufficient money in the Treasury to pay honest claims with, that they, Messrs. Dingley and Dalzell, were responsible for that condition, for the Treasury was what they had made it. He added that there was no good reason why the Treasury should not have money enough to pay its debts, for the country is rich, and properly taxed would bring about a full treasury. He intimated that the failure of the Dingley bill caused the shortage in the Treasury.

Gen. Grosvenor of Ohio asked the Democrats why they had not passed the war claims during the Fifty-third Congress, when they were in power, and then asserted that if the Republican majority should pass the claims every Democratic stump speaker next fall would denounce them as extravagant for having done so.

An effort to obtain delay was made by Mr. Moody of Massachusetts, who offered as an amendment to the bill a provision for the payment of the old French spoliation claims. A point of order was made against the amendment, which, after discussion, was sustained and the amendment was thrown out. A vote will probably be taken on the bill next Friday.